Background: The incidence of acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) in the white population is low. Dermoscopy enhances diagnosis of ALM; however, diagnostic accuracy may sometimes be poor due to the considerable proportion of amelanotic ALM variants. Objectives: To calculate the proportion of ALM among all melanoma subtypes and to determine the frequency of dermoscopic features of ALM in the Turkish population. Methods: Out of 612 melanomas, there were 70 cases of ALM, of which 46 showed sufficient image quality for retrospective study of dermoscopic features...

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) light may cause dermoscopic changes on melanocytic nevi (MN). Objectives: To investigate the effects of sunscreen cream (SSc) application on dermoscopic changes in MN during narrowband UVB (NBUVB) therapy. Methods: Half of the randomly selected MN in each patient were covered with opaque tape and SSc [SSc(+)], and the rest were covered with only opaque tape [SSc(-)] during NBUVB treatment sessions. Results: More SSc(-) MN displayed dermoscopic changes at end of NBUVB therapy compared to the start of therapy (p=0...

Spark's nevus is a particular type of melanocytic nevus that on histology shows features of both Spitz's and Clark's nevus. Clinically, it is an asymmetric, irregular, multicolored, pigmented lesion that is not clearly distinguishable from melanoma or dysplastic (Clark's) nevus. Dermoscopic features have not been described yet, and one could speculate that they are similar to those of Clark's nevi because the histopathologic architecture of Spark's nevus is similar to that of a Clark's nevus, resembling Spitz's nevi in the epithelioid morphology of melanocytes...

Screening for melanoma has been advocated for many years because early detection and excision have been regarded as the most important measure to lower mortality from that neoplasm. In the past decade, concern has been raised by epidemiologists that screening might result in excision chiefly of "inconsequential cancer," i.e., melanomas that would never have progressed into life-threatening tumors, a phenomenon referred to by the misleading term "overdiagnosis." Without any firm evidence, that speculation has been embraced worldwide, and incipient melanomas have been trivialized...

Paraneoplastic syndromes involving the visual system are a heterogeneous group of disorders occurring in the setting of systemic malignancy. They are unrelated to local tumor invasion or metastasis and unexplained by nutritional, metabolic, infectious or iatrogenic causes. The presence of antibodies may aid in the diagnosis of a paraneoplastic syndrome, although this is not an absolute requirement. Chorioretinal involvement is seen in CAR (cancer-associated retinopathy) syndrome, MAR (melanoma-associated retinopathy) syndrome, paraneoplastic vitelliform maculopathy, and bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation...

Worldwide melanoma incidence and mortality are increasing (1). Despite the ongoing research, advanced melanoma is still incurable; therefore, the most appropriate solution seems to be early detection combined with complete surgical excision (2). Since the diagnostic protocol of suspicious lesions includes a complete excision with safety margins (2), the problem of unnecessary scarring is significant. The real challenge in this case is to have a properly formulated diagnosis before acquiring a biopsy. Currently available non-invasive techniques are coherence tomography, digital dermoscopy, and reflectance confocal microscopy...

Melanoma is one of the fastest growing cancers in the United States and is accompanied with a poor prognosis owing to tumors being resistant to most therapies. Atypical protein kinase Cs (aPKC) are involved in malignancy in many cancers. We previously reported that aPKCs play a key role in melanoma's cell motility by regulating cell signaling pathways which induce epithelial-mesenchymal Transition (EMT). We tested three novel inhibitors; [4-(5-amino-4-carbamoylimidazol-1-yl)-2,3-dihydroxycyclopentyl] methyl dihydrogen phosphate (ICA-1T) along with its nucleoside analog 5-amino-1-((1R,2S,3S,4R)-2,3-dihydroxy-4-methylcyclopentyl)-1H-imidazole-4-carboxamide (ICA-1S) which are specific to protein kinase C-iota (PKC-ι) and 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-naphthalenetrisulfonic acid (ζ-Stat) which is specific to PKC-zeta (PKC-ζ) on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of two malignant melanoma cell lines compared to normal melanocytes...

The POU domain family of transcription factors play a central role in embryogenesis and are highly expressed in neural crest cells and the developing brain. BRN2 is a class III POU domain protein that is a key mediator of neuroendocrine and melanocytic development and differentiation. While BRN2 is a central regulator in numerous developmental programs, it has also emerged as a major player in the biology of tumourigenesis. In melanoma, BRN2 has been implicated as one of the master regulators of the acquisition of invasive behavior within the phenotype-switching model of progression...

The mouse tail has an important role in the study of melanogenesis, because mouse tail skin can be used to model human skin pigmentation. To better understand the development of melanocytes in the mouse tail, we cloned two dominant ENU-generated mutations of the Adamts9 gene, Und3 and Und4, which cause an unpigmented ring of epidermis in the middle of the tail, but do not alter pigmentation in the rest of the mouse. Adamts9 encodes a widely expressed zinc metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 repeats with few known substrates...

Accumulating evidence has indicated that MEG3 can serve as a tumor suppressive lncRNA in various tumors. It is aberrantly expressed in multiple cancers. However, the biological roles of MEG3 in melanoma are poorly understood. Therefore, in our study, we concentrated on the biological mechanism of MEG3 in melanoma progression. First, we observed that MEG3 was obviously decreased in melanoma cells including A375, SK-MEL-1, B16, and A2058 cells compared to human epidermal melanocytes HEMa-LP. MEG3 was restored by transfecting LV-MEG3 in to A375 and A2058 cells...

Vitiligo is the most common acquired hypopigmentary disease in the community. Piperine as an herbal extract derived from black pepper has strong impact on the melanocyte proliferation and adverse side effects less than synthetic drugs such as corticosteroids. For the first time, this study was aimed to evaluate the effect of topical piperine combined with narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) on vitiligo treatment. In this double-blind clinical trial, 63 patients with facial vitiligo were randomly divided into 2 groups: treated with piperine (case) and placebo (control)...

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), an interface between the systemic circulation and the nervous system, can be a target of cytokines in inflammatory conditions. Pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) induce damage in brain endothelial cells and BBB dysfunction which contribute to neuronal injury. The neuroprotective effects of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) were investigated in experimental models, but there are no data related to the BBB. Based on our recent study, in which α-MSH reduced barrier dysfunction in human intestinal epithelial cells induced by TNF-α and IL-1β, we hypothesized a protective effect of α-MSH on brain endothelial cells...

Purpose of Review: Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) enables imaging of skin lesions at cellular level resolution at the bedside (in vivo) or in freshly excised tissue (ex vivo). This article provides an overview of strengths and limitations of non-invasive RCM in skin cancer diagnosis. Recent Findings: RCM features of common melanocytic and non-melanocytic skin neoplasms such as melanoma, actinic keratosis/squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and nevi have been well defined and show good correlation with dermoscopic and histopathologic findings...

Background: Meningeal melanocytoma is considered a rare lesion arising from leptomeningeal melanocytes. Nearly two thirds of meningeal melanocytomas were reported in the intracranial compartment and the remaining one third in the spine. Spinal melanocytomas can be extradural or intradural, with extradural variant being more common, and the majority of cases have been single reports. Methods: A 5-year-old male presented with a 4-month history of non-radiating low back pain persistent at rest, with otherwise non-remarkable medical history...

BACKGROUND: Clonal naevi are characterized by a focal proliferation of pigmented melanocytes in an otherwise banal naevus. These subclones are often composed of aggregates of larger, epithelioid melanocytes with nuclear atypia and dusty-grey cytoplasmic pigmentation, which are referred to as 'pulverocytes', and this finding may lead to a misdiagnosis of malignant melanoma (MM). AIM: To characterize the significance of subclones of dusty-grey pigmented epithelioid melanocytes within spitzoid neoplasms...

The objective of this study was to identify a normalizer or combination of normalizers for quantitative evaluation of the expression of a target gene of interest during melanoma progression. Adult melanocytes, uveal primary melanoma cells and cutaneous primary and metastatic melanoma cells were used to construct a panel of 14 experimental models reflecting cancer promotion and progression. Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT1), glucuronidase beta (GUSB), ribosomal protein S23 (RPS23), phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) and small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide A (SRNPA) were chosen as candidate housekeeping genes...

Molecular genetic technologies are used to aid in diagnosis and treatment of borderline melanocytic tumors as an adjuvant to the gold standard histopathologic evaluation. A specific set of fluorescence in situ hybridization probes is widely used to aid in diagnosing challenging melanocytic lesions. New melanoma probe cocktails have revealed increased sensitivity and specificity in ambiguous melanocytic cases. Array comparative genomic hybridization is a more complex technology used for the work-up of diagnostically problematic Spitzoid melanocytic proliferations...

There is a global trend of increase in the demand for three-dimensional electron microscopy with high resolution. The ultrastructural change and related functional studies are necessary to investigate biological phenomena. In this study, currently available 3D reconstruction techniques of electron microscopes (serial block-face scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy) were used to investigate hyperpigmentary disorders in human skin. In the basal layer of the epidermis in the human skin, there are melanocytes that produce melanin and keratinocytes that act as a barrier against environmental damage...